Page 59 of Trail to Trouble
“We’re going to get a conviction,” the prosecutor said.
Hannah looked at her. At this point, she wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. For what Sebastián had done to her, she wanted him to spend years, if not the rest of his life, in prison. He’d kidnapped her and tried to kill her. He belonged in prison. On the other hand, how would his family retaliate if he was found guilty? A golf ball-sized lump formed in her throat. What would that mean for her and her brothers?
“From what was presented and the condemning evidence, how could he not be found guilty? The DNA doesn’t lie,” Kane replied.
“That’s right,” Lance added.
She pushed her food around on her plate again, then looked up. “That’s what I’m afraid of. If he’s found guilty, then what will he do, or his family do, to me...us? I feel like I should have just kept my mouth shut and moved on.”
Kane’s hand flew over hers. “No. You did the right thing. People like him need to be stopped. Would you want him doing what he did to you, to someone else?”
“No.”
“Then this was the right thing to do. Now eat,” Kane demanded.
She forked a few bites of pot roast into her mouth. That was all her rolling stomach could handle.
“It’s time,” the prosecutor said as she rose from her chair.
She and her brothers followed suit.
Once the people in the courtroom settled, closing arguments began, and after listening to both sides, the evidence was strong for a conviction, but who knew how it would go? From what she had learned of the Garcias, she wouldn’t be surprised if they threatened or paid off the jury.
At the conclusion of the closing arguments, the judge gave the jury instructions as to the expectations, including explaining the legal principles applicable to the case, and she informed them what they needed to consider to reach a verdict. The jury rose and exited the courtroom to begin their deliberations in the jury room. She tried to read the jurors’ expressions as they exited the room, but not one of them made eye contact with her. However, one short, stout woman who looked to be in her early forties shared a long glance with Sebastián’s father. The fear lacing the woman’s gaze sent an eerie chill to snake up Hannah’s spine. That was the juror the Garcias had gotten to. She’d stake her life on it. This would not end well.
Hannah spun around and watched the people exit the courtroom. There were so many people and press in the room. It had to be the Garcia family that drew the attention to this case, because it certainly wasn’t her small family or limited circle of friends that filled a room that was bursting at the seams. Thinking of her friends made her think of Bianca, who’d seemed to fall off the face of the earth.
The old man with long gray hair and matching beard, who showed up every day, stepped into the aisle and headed toward the exit. He didn’t so much as glance in her direction on his way out, but recalling his familiar eyes from their many shared glances had her racking her brain to figure out how she knew him. He had to be at least in his mid-sixties. Had he been a friend of her father? When the man stepped into the threshold, he glanced over his shoulder, meeting her gaze. He nodded and exited the courtroom.
“Still don’t know who that is,” Kane said to her.
Lance shook his head in unison with her.
“I’m going to see if I can catch him in the hall. Figure it out, so you know,” Kane said as he made his way to the exit.
He returned a few minutes later and joined her and Lance in the hallway.
“I couldn’t find him. I looked all over the hall, lobby, and even outside. It’s like he vanished into thin air.”
“I feel like he’s here rooting for me, but why?” she said.
The jury deliberated for a couple of hours, then broke for the evening. They resumed deliberations at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. Hannah was sure she hadn’t slept a wink and she felt as exhausted as she’d ever been.
At 9:30 a.m. court reconvened. Hannah’s nerves were rattled, as the jurors returned to the jury box. Mistakenly, she risked a glance at Sebastián. If looks could kill, she’d be six feet under. That look from him meant he was worried. Good. He should be. But she was worried, too. If found innocent, would he—his family still retaliate? If found guilty, she was sure of it. How had it come to this? How had her life come to this? Since all this started, she felt like a pawn in a game she had no control over.
She glanced at her brothers, who sat to her left in the first row. Both offered reassuring looks. Needing a bit more reassurance, she looked for the old man. He wasn’t in his usual spot. Every day he’d been in the courtroom, and today of all days, he wasn’t. Of all days not to be here, the day she needed him most. What a strange thought, that she needed this stranger, but she did. The door creaked open, and he stepped through the threshold. He limped his way to the second row and squeezed himself into the aisle seat. Never had he sat this close to the front. Now that he was closer to her, she noticed that despite the gray hair and beard, he didn’t look that old. His skin was not wrinkled. Not even around those warm, familiar eyes of his. The judge spoke, pulling her attention away from the stranger, and she focused on the front of the courtroom.
The jury foreperson rose. “On the charge of attempted murder, we find the defendant not guilty.”
Sighs of relief sounded on the opposite side of the courtroom. Hannah’s blood froze in her veins. Dread coiled in the pit of her stomach. Her pulse pounded, and she broke into a full-bodied sweat. Sebastián was going to walk. How could this be? The prosecutor glanced over her shoulder. The woman looked shocked, but not nearly as shocked as her brothers. What would this mean for her—them? Would they have to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives? She couldn’t breathe.
Kane placed his hand over hers.
“On the charges of kidnapping and assault, we find the defendant guilty.”
A cry from Sebastián’s mom rang out. Hannah snapped her head in that direction.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Sebastián’s movement. He lunged toward her, knocking over his chair and his attorney. Hannah lurched to her feet to get away. The old man from the second row threw himself between her and Sebastián. Her brothers positioned themselves between the old man and her. Sebastián fought to get around the old man, only to be tossed aside like a rag doll, even with the sling on the man’s arm. The court security officer pounced on Sebastián and pulled him to his feet. Still, Sebastián spewed comments of hatred toward her over his shoulder as the officer pulled him out of the courtroom. Sebastián’s dad had stood and made a move toward her, but Kane and Lance stood in his way. He threw his hands in the air submissively, but the stone-cold look in his eyes let her know this wasn’t over. The man’s gaze bore the same hatred as Sebastián’s.
